# A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-professor-stood-before-his-philosophy-class-and-had-some-items-in-front-of-him/644267>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [December 17, 2012, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-professor-stood-before-his-philosophy-class-and-had-some-items-in-front-of-him/644267 "2012-12-17T03:46:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-professor-stood-before-his-philosophy-class-and-had-some-items-in-front-of-him/644267/41 "2012-12-19T18:53:18Z")

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> [@Weirofhermiston](#):
>
> Alan Bennett satirised this kind of platitudinous thinking and tortured analogy in his parody of a C of E sermon in Beyond The Fringe in 1960.
> 
> [http://www.sof.org.nz/esausermon.htm](http://www.sof.org.nz/esausermon.htm)
> 
> It’s not very long.

Your link doesn’t work.

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**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-professor-stood-before-his-philosophy-class-and-had-some-items-in-front-of-him/644267/42 "2012-12-20T03:43:23Z")

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The economist would never get his hands dirty putting anything into a jar, but believes that jars would fill themselves if paid enough.

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**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-professor-stood-before-his-philosophy-class-and-had-some-items-in-front-of-him/644267/43 "2012-12-20T03:48:51Z")

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> [@araminty](#):
>
> Your link doesn’t work.

Worked for me.

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**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-professor-stood-before-his-philosophy-class-and-had-some-items-in-front-of-him/644267/44 "2012-12-22T02:24:55Z")

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> [@Malacandra](#):
>
> Bad idea. What happens to the glass jar when HF hits it? 😛

Might be fun to watch the prof deal with that, actually.

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**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-professor-stood-before-his-philosophy-class-and-had-some-items-in-front-of-him/644267/45 "2012-12-22T02:57:41Z")

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> [@Inner\_Stickler](#):
>
> Worked for me.

English major’s reaction to linked page: It was the American sportswriter Grantland Rice, not the English poet W.E. Henley, who penned the “One Great Scorer” verse.

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